Concrete Poem

Concrete Poem A poem with a shape which suggests the subject. The poet arranges the letters, punctuation, and lines to create a visual image on the page.

Free Verse Poetry written without a regular rhythmical pattern, or meter. In free verse poems, poets are free to write lines of any length, rhythmic stresses, or beats. Poets are less restricted by form when writing free verse.

Haiku A three lined, Japanese verse form. The first and third lines of a haiku have five syllables; the second line has seven syllables. A haiku usually represents a single, vivid image drawn from nature.

Sonnet A sonnet is a poem that consists of fourteen lines. The poem is divided into three quatrains and every other line rhymes. The quatrains are followed by one rhyming couplet.

Quatrain A quatrain is a stanza that contains four lines.

Couplet A couplet is two lines of verse that stand alone in some way.

Hyperbole The use of exaggeration to make a point. (I'm starving)

Tone The poet’s attitude towards the subject of the poem (playful, ironic, somber...)

Lyric Poem A lyric poem expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker on a topic about which the speaker feels strongly.

Narrative Poem A story, told in verse. It usually possesses the elements of fiction such as characters, conflict, and plot. The events are usually told in chronological order.

Ballad A narrative poem, usually simple and fairly short originally designed to be sung. They often deal with adventure and romance. Ballads have four-to-six-line stanzas, with regular rhythms and rhyme schemes. Many have a refrain.

Refrain A line or group of lines repeated at the end of each stanza. Sonnet A poem consisting of fourteen lines. There are four main types: Shakespearean, Petrachan, Miltonic, and Spencerian.

Stanza

A stanza is a group of lines in a poem, considered as a unit. Stanzas are usually separated from each other by line spaces. (Like a ‘paragraph’ in poetry)

The rhythmical pattern determined by the number and types of stresses, or beats, in each line. To describe the meter of a poem, you must scan its lines.

Rhyme The repetition of similar or the same sounds at regular intervals, often the repetition of the terminal (end) sounds of words at the ends of lines of verse.

Rhyme Scheme A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem. To indicate the rhyme scheme of a poem, lower case letters are used to identify the rhyme in each line of each stanza.

Imagery The use of a word or phrase that appeals to the five senses. Writers use images to create specific descriptions - to show how their subjects look, sound, smell, taste and feel.

Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared by saying one ‘is’ the other. (She is lightning on the soccer field.)

Simile A simile is a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unlike subjects using like or as. (He is like lightning on the soccer field.)

Personification The giving of human feelings or qualities to things that are not human. (The sun smiled down on us)

Onomatopoeia Words, the sound of which imitates their meaning.

(hiss, bang, pop...) Alliteration The close, repeated sounds of consonants, usually at the beginning of words. (Slowly the snake slithered)

Assonance The close repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually in stressed syllables. (As he walked, King Arthur panted hard)

Consonance The close repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after different vowels. (flip, flop)

Allusion A reference, usually brief, to a familiar person or thing (often from history, the Bible or popular culture)

Enjambed Line A line of poetry in which the grammatical structure and the sense are not complete, but are continued in the following line. (The sentence continues on the next line)

End stopped line A line of poetry in which both the grammatical structure and the sense are complete (it begins and ends on one line)

Extended metaphor A sequence of metaphors, based on single association that runs through a poem. (O’Captain, My Captain)

Limerick Highly structured, usually amusing and nonsensical poem. Rhyme scheme is always aa,bb,a.